IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i9p5328-d804896.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fashion E-Tail and the Impact of Returns: Mapping Processes and the Consumer Journey towards More Sustainable Practices

Author

Listed:
  • Carolina Bozzi

    (CIAUD, Research Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Design, Lisbon School of Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua Sá Nogueira, Polo Universitário do Alto da Ajuda, 1349-063 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • Marco Neves

    (CIAUD, Research Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Design, Lisbon School of Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua Sá Nogueira, Polo Universitário do Alto da Ajuda, 1349-063 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • Claudia Mont’Alvão

    (Laboratory of Ergodesign and Usability of Interfaces, Graduate Program in Design, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua Marques de Sao Vicente, 225, Gavea, Rio de Janeiro 22541-041, Brazil)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to trace the processes behind the elaboration of the product page and map the shopping journey to identify ways to reduce returns. This is a qualitative study conducted in three stages: exploratory interviews with users, semi-structured interviews with e-commerce and logistics specialists, and directed storytelling sessions with users. Our findings indicate that the e-commerce specialists are not fully aware of the impacts caused by the high return rates, and product presentation pages are therefore not elaborated to provide users with all the information necessary to make accurate purchases. Sellers should improve product presentation pages to increase product knowledge by providing tools to enhance quality mental imagery. Additionally, sellers should inform consumers of the impact of their shipping options and returning habits. There are ways to optimize logistics processes to reduce the environmental impact. Prior research has addressed these issues separately. Besides, have addressed mental imagery to increase sales. This study brings a holistic approach and brings mental imagery as a tool to provide users with more information about a product.

Suggested Citation

  • Carolina Bozzi & Marco Neves & Claudia Mont’Alvão, 2022. "Fashion E-Tail and the Impact of Returns: Mapping Processes and the Consumer Journey towards More Sustainable Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-39, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5328-:d:804896
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5328/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5328/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rajiv Lal & Miklos Sarvary, 1999. "When and How Is the Internet Likely to Decrease Price Competition?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 485-503.
    2. Jacobus D. Nel & Amanda Badenhorst, 2020. "A conceptual framework for reverse logistics challenges in e-commerce," International Journal of Business Performance Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 21(1/2), pages 114-131.
    3. MacInnis, Deborah J & Price, Linda L, 1987. "The Role of Imagery in Information Processing: Review and Extensions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 13(4), pages 473-491, March.
    4. Yoo, Jungmin & Kim, Minjeong, 2014. "The effects of online product presentation on consumer responses: A mental imagery perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 2464-2472.
    5. Peck, Joann & Childers, Terry L, 2003. "Individual Differences in Haptic Information Processing: The "Need for Touch" Scale," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(3), pages 430-442, December.
    6. Govindan, Kannan & Soleimani, Hamed & Kannan, Devika, 2015. "Reverse logistics and closed-loop supply chain: A comprehensive review to explore the future," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 240(3), pages 603-626.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ut-Tha Veenarat, 2023. "Pioneering Eco-Cart: Carbon Reduction Solutions for Thai Online Shoppers," Management & Marketing, Sciendo, vol. 18(4), pages 515-536, December.
    2. Doyeon Kong & Yoo-Kyoung Seock & Steve Marschner & Heeju Terry Park, 2023. "Leveraging 4D Golf Apparel Wear Simulation in Online Shopping: A Promising Approach to Minimizing the Carbon Footprint," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-17, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lee, Jung Eun & Shin, Eonyou, 2020. "The effects of apparel names and visual complexity of apparel design on consumers' apparel product attitudes: A mental imagery perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 407-417.
    2. Heller, Jonas & Chylinski, Mathew & de Ruyter, Ko & Mahr, Dominik & Keeling, Debbie I., 2019. "Let Me Imagine That for You: Transforming the Retail Frontline Through Augmenting Customer Mental Imagery Ability," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 94-114.
    3. Zhang, Yunen & Shao, Wei & Quach, Sara & Thaichon, Park & Li, Qianmin, 2024. "Examining the moderating effects of shopping orientation, product knowledge and involvement on the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) retail environment," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Duong, Quang Huy & Zhou, Li & Meng, Meng & Nguyen, Truong Van & Ieromonachou, Petros & Nguyen, Duy Tiep, 2022. "Understanding product returns: A systematic literature review using machine learning and bibliometric analysis," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    5. Herhausen, Dennis & Binder, Jochen & Schoegel, Marcus & Herrmann, Andreas, 2015. "Integrating Bricks with Clicks: Retailer-Level and Channel-Level Outcomes of Online–Offline Channel Integration," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 309-325.
    6. Banik, Shanta & Gao, Yongqiang, 2023. "Exploring the hedonic factors affecting customer experiences in phygital retailing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    7. Kim, Minjeong & Kim, Jung-Hwan & Park, Minjung & Yoo, Jungmin, 2021. "The roles of sensory perceptions and mental imagery in consumer decision-making," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    8. Yim, Mark Yi-Cheon & Baek, Tae Hyun & Sauer, Paul L., 2018. "I See Myself in Service and Product Consumptions: Measuring Self-transformative Consumption Vision (SCV) Evoked by Static and Rich Media," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 122-139.
    9. Zhao, Min & Xia, Lan, 2021. "Joint or separate? The effect of visual presentation on imagery and product evaluation," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 935-952.
    10. Fan, Liu & Wang, Yawei & Mou, Jian, 2024. "Enjoy to read and enjoy to shop: An investigation on the impact of product information presentation on purchase intention in digital content marketing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Racat, Margot & Capelli, Sonia & Lichy, Jessica, 2021. "New insights into ‘technologies of touch’: Information processing in product evaluation and purchase intention," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    12. Kim, Minjeong, 2019. "Digital product presentation, information processing, need for cognition and behavioral intent in digital commerce," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 362-370.
    13. Diana Gavilan & Maria Avello, 2020. "Brand-Evoked Mental Imagery: The Role of Brands in Eliciting Mental Imagery," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, November.
    14. Cheng, Peiyao & Zhang, Chao, 2023. "Show me insides: Investigating the influences of product exploded view on consumers’ mental imagery, comprehension, attitude, and purchase intention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    15. Maier, Erik & Dost, Florian, 2018. "Fluent contextual image backgrounds enhance mental imagery and evaluations of experience products," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 207-220.
    16. Ha, Sejin & Huang, Ran & Park, Jee-Sun, 2019. "Persuasive brand messages in social media: A mental imagery processing perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 41-49.
    17. Assarzadegan, Parisa & Rasti-Barzoki, Morteza, 2020. "A game theoretic approach for pricing under a return policy and a money back guarantee in a closed loop supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    18. Huihui Liu & Xiaohang Yue & Hui Ding & G. Keong Leong, 2017. "Optimal Remanufacturing Certification Contracts in the Electrical and Electronic Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-17, March.
    19. Yang, Hui & Chen, Jing & Chen, Xu & Chen, Bintong, 2017. "The impact of customer returns in a supply chain with a common retailer," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 256(1), pages 139-150.
    20. Yan, Ruiliang & Wang, John & Zhou, Bin, 2010. "Channel integration and profit sharing in the dynamics of multi-channel firms," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 430-440.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5328-:d:804896. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.